Army tasks Monken with rebuilding program

Tuesday

Dec 31, 2013 at 2:00 AM

WEST POINT — Jeff Monken didn't dodge the question.Monken admitted he was pulling for his good friend Ken Niumatalolo and Navy against Army earlier this month. He watched the Midshipmen win their 12th straight game in the rivalry. Monken helped start and build the streak as a Navy assistant coach from 2002-07.

BY SAL INTERDONATO

WEST POINT — Jeff Monken didn't dodge the question.

Monken admitted he was pulling for his good friend Ken Niumatalolo and Navy against Army earlier this month.

He watched the Midshipmen win their 12th straight game in the rivalry. Monken helped start and build the streak as a Navy assistant coach from 2002-07.

Little did Monken know the team he was rooting for would be the team he will be trying to beat the next six years.

Sixteen days after the game, Monken stood before Army administration, alumni and fans as West Point's 37th head football coach.

Monken talked about building a tough, disciplined team that plays with pride and passion. He also mentioned his walk through the Army Sports Hall of Fame and how the national championships in 1944-46 and the 1945, 1946 and 1958 Heisman trophies caught his attention.

Army has entrusted Monken to build a new football tradition at West Point. Athletic director Boo Corrigan and Gen. Robert Caslen, West Point superintendent, hired a man with Navy ties to make Army a consistent winner. They believe Monken, 46, who led Georgia Southern to a 38-16 record the past four seasons, can turn around the program, which went 8-28 the last three years under Rich Ellerson. The proof is in Monken's six-year contract.

"We're going to field a team that everybody's going to be proud of," Monken told the audience. "That's the kind of team that I want to represent. When somebody watches Army play football, I want them to turn the TV off and say 'I've never seen a team play like that before. I've never seen guys play that hard.' I want that to be our football team."

Monken stepped off the podium to a chorus of cheers as he said, "Go Army, and we will beat Navy."

Corrigan and Caslen were looking for a coach, who would demand the most out of his team. A coach that would inspire and lead. A coach that could turn the nation's most disciplined student-athletes into disciplined football players. Monken proved he's up for the challenge in an interview with Army's brass last week.

"He didn't have a script," Corrigan said. "He didn't have a book and we had close to a four-hour conversation without missing a word, without stumbling. He knew who our players were. He knew what we did. He knew who we were going to play. He knew what it was going to take to succeed."

The days of Army fumbling away games early and late (55 times in the last three seasons) are over, Caslen said. Caslen expects a mentally and physically tougher team under Monken.

"We were making too many mistakes," Caslen said. "We have to teach discipline. We have to coach discipline. ... He will bring discipline."

Talk about toughness. Monken's Georgia Southern team entered "The Swamp" in Gainesville, Fla., with less than 40 scholarship players available to play because of injury and left with a 26-20 win against Florida in November.

Corrigan and Caslen's "win now" philosophy doesn't phase Monken.

"There is nobody here that will have higher expectations for our team and our performance than me," said Monken. "Nobody's going to put more pressure on me than me. I want to win. I don't take kindly anything else. Second place is no fun for anybody."

Singing second, a tradition earned by the Army-Navy winner in the postgame celebration, is one of Monken's priorities.

"I'm happy to say I'm 6-0 in the Army-Navy game, but on the wrong side," Monken said. "I'm getting on the right side this time."